WILKES-BARRE — Key prosecution witness Paul Weakley admitted to jurors Wednesday that he repeatedly lied to investigators about the torture and murder of Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend Tammy Fassett, and that he once wrote he didn't believe the truth exists, just a "melding" of the facts into a version he could sell to jurors.

Still, he insisted, this version is the truth.

"There were quite a few lies that I told early on in this investigation. I blamed what I could on Mr. Selenski and others," Weakley testified under cross-examination during the sixth day of Hugo Selenski's capital murder trial. "I'm here to do what's right today. I've already received my punishment."

Weakley pleaded guilty to the murders and is serving a life sentence in federal prison, but under a plea deal with prosecutors, his full cooperation could earn him the possibility of a reduced sentence.

Prosecutors also did not pursue child pornography and burglary charges against him under the plea, and the death penalty was off the table.

His cross-examination in a packed courtroom Wednesday came a day after he testified in dramatic detail about how he and Selenski plotted to rob and murder Kerkowski, a pharmacist who was about to go to prison for illegally selling prescription painkillers.

Prosecutors say Kerkowski made more than $800,000 dealing drugs, and Selenski wanted a share.

Weakley told jurors they didn't plan to kill Fassett, but they included her in their plans when they pulled up to Kerkowski's house in Hunlock Creek on May 3, 2002, and found her doing yard work with her boyfriend.

They bound the pair with flex ties and duct tape, then beat and choked Kerkowski to find out where he had hidden his money, Weakley testified. Eventually they strangled both victims with flex ties and buried them in Selenski's backyard, he said.

Defense attorney Bernard Brown noted Wednesday that Weakley had been interviewed 17 times by investigators about the crime, and that his story changed repeatedly. Weakley first lied about his involvement in the murders, blamed others who were not involved and lied about where and when the bodies were buried.

"I told investigators a lot of lies at this point to isolate myself from the crimes," Weakley testified, adding that he tried to "fit my narrative around the facts" that investigators provided him.

"You're here to tell your version of the truth today, correct?" Brown asked.